Spring Hill man accused of having sex with Pasco runaway

SPRING HILL — A brother looking for his teenage runaway sister found her at the home of a man who authorities say had sex with the girl and posted Internet photos of her having sex with him and another woman.

On April 22, the 17-year-old was reported a missing juvenile to New Port Richey police. On April 30, her brother learned that she was staying with Lisa Messer, 20, at 180 Rusk Circle, the home of Mike Pugh, 33.

The brother went to Pugh's home and asked Messer where his sister was. Messer said she did not know, but moments later the teen emerged from hiding in a closet, and left with her brother.

Messer told the brother that Pugh had videotaped sexual encounters between himself and the girl on a webcam and had taken still photos as well. The brother told Pugh to remove the images from his computer. Pugh showed the brother a video of himself having sex with the girl and asked, "Do you want me to delete the (still) pictures, too?"

The girl told deputies that she had run away from her mother. She said she is bisexual and had been intimate with Messer for a couple of months.

She said that after Messer and Pugh picked her up in New Port Richey, they returned to Pugh's home and she shut off her cell phone so her family could not track her.

The girl said that the first night there, Pugh videotaped her having sex with Messer and that Pugh joined them. She said there were several encounters like this.

One day before her brother found her, the girl said she and Messer found the videos and still pictures. In a recorded call between the girl and Pugh, Pugh admitted to harboring the runaway with Messer and having sex with her and Messer, as well as deleting the videos of their encounters.

Messer and Pugh were arrested Tuesday, both on charges of interference with child custody. Pugh was also arrested on charges of having sex with a minor and drug charges, after investigators found four marijuana plants growing near his shed.